Five quick thoughts: Why Kawhi was so ready for Durant

Even though he was recently yanked out of the starting lineup, Kawhi Leonard knew he would be playing Kevin Durant a lot in Saturday’s game.

So it wasn’t really a shock when San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich came to Leonard before the game and told him of his assignment.

Leonard has faced a variety of defensive challenges in his rookie season. From Kevin Martin’s awkward but effective jump shot to Dirk Nowitzki’s pick-and-pop, Monta Ellis’s face-up game and even a dose of LeBron James’ physicality, he’s seen it all.

His game against Durant was one of the best of the season as he stared down the challenge of the two-time defending NBA scoring leader and even flourished. Durant scored 22 points, but needed 19 shots to earn his points in the kind of harrassing challenge that pleased Popovich.

“He did the best he could for a young rookie who has never really seen these guys before and really hasn’t practiced any of the defensive strategies we might use,” Popovich said.

And that’s the most remarkable part about Leonard’s fast defensive start. He’s earning comparisons to Bruce Bowen without the benefit of summer work, much less a training camp and any in-season practice.

“It starts with his body,” Popovich said. ” He has good size and he’s really long. He’s got huge hands and quick feet and he has a propensity to play defense and he likes the role, kind of like Bruce did. But he’s a lot bigger than Bruce ever was.

“We have to get him as smart as Bruce, but we can only do that through experience and playing.”

Those skills are only boosted by Leonard’s defensive mentality, which was the Spurs’ prime selling point in their draft-night trade with Indiana last June.

“Those physical aspects are great and intrinsically, you have a gift for it. He likes to do it, ” Popovich said. “And he’s aggressive and not afraid to stick his nose in it. Failure doesn’t bother him. You score on him he doesn’t sulk and say gee coach, this and that. He goes back and tries to do it better.”

For good measure, Leonard made Durant work on the defensive end as he scored 15 points — including 13 in the first half including three 3-pointers.

In the process, he fulfilled a pre-game hope for Popovich.

“If he keeps him below 40, I’m gonna slap him on the ass and say, ‘Great job, young man,” Popovich said. “Every game is an education for him. If there’s somebody on the other team that we think is a heck of a player, I want Kawhi to handle him. For him to guard a guy like Kevin Durant is a win-win for him, no matter what happens.”

And that’s the biggest reason why Leonard’s game Saturday was exactly what Popovich wanted — and more.

Here are a few other quick takes from the Spurs’ season-best fourth consecutive victory.

Lost in the hubbub of Tony Parker’s record-setting assist and his big scoring night was his supreme competitiveness that he brought to the game. In his most recent game against Oklahoma City, Parker had been limited to four points by Russell Westbrook on a struggling 1 of 8 shooting effort. Clearly, that game stuck with Parker. And he wanted to make sure the Oklahoma City guard knew that Saturday’s game was going to be much different from the beginning than that abberation.

The Spurs did a good job of bottling up Oklahoma City’s running game by committing to get a defender back quickly. It was important because Oklahoma City’s wings are among the most adept finishers in the league. The Spurs limited the Thunder to 13 transition points, bottling them up throughout the game.

Matt Bonner had another struggling drive to the basket that had his teammates chuckling on the bench, but they will give him a pass. When he’s hitting 75 percent of his 3-pointers like Saturday night, it’s usually means their offense is pretty effective.

With the gloom that accompanied the Spurs’ return after their most recent road trip, it’s hard to believe they could be leaving for the Rodeo Road Trip with much more confidence. They’ve handled Houston, New Orleans and Oklahoma City in three victories. But most impressively, they have limited all three opponents to less than 100 points.